Process and device for the protection and display of video streams

ABSTRACT

A process distributing video streams to a plurality of addressees, comprising a marking step comprising adding at least one visual element to a video stream, which marking step is applied to an original video stream common to all the addressees and which is personalized for each addressee by addition of a visual element specific to the addressee that allows rapid visual identification of the addressee, wherein the added visual element replaces part of the original video stream that is stored in complementary information on a multimedia server.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/648,024, filed Oct. 9, 2012, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/544,659, filed Aug. 30, 2005, which is a USnational filing of PCT/FR2004/50045, filed on Feb. 5, 2004, which claimspriority to French application FR03/01493 filed on Feb. 7, 2003, thecontents of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a process for the distribution of digitalvideo streams which prevents the streams from being illegally copiedand/or distributed by the addition into the streams of visual elementsconcerning each person receiving the original stream. Addition ofpersonalized visual elements permits immediate identification of theperson for whom the original film is intended in such a manner that oncetaken out of its context of normal and authorized reading, reading thevideo stream allows the authentication of the origin of the fraud, e.g.,in the case of pirating or of illicit distribution of copies of theseaudiovisual streams. This allows the source of the fraud to be traced ifit took place and has a dissuasive effect on any ill-intentioned person.

BACKGROUND

Tattooing effects are known that permit the insertion into a videostream of visual elements that can not be detected by the human eye, butcan be recognized by a computer program, even after severalmanipulations of the video stream. These visual elements can also bepersonalized for one or several users. The disadvantage of the existingsolutions is that they do not allow for detection of a fraudulent copywithout employing complex techniques for the analysis of the videostream.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a process for distributing video streams to aplurality of addressees, including a marking step including adding atleast one visual element to a video stream, which marking step isapplied to an original video stream common to all of the addressees andwhich is personalized for each addressee by addition of a visual elementspecific to the addressee that allows rapid visual identification of theaddress, wherein the added visual element replaces part of the originalvideo stream that is stored in complementary information on a multimediaserver.

This invention also relates to a system for distributing video streamsincluding a marking module including a module for generating visualelements personalized for each user, a module for inserting the visualelements into the original stream, thereby producing a marked stream andcomplementary information stored in the server, and a module forremoving the marking in which reconstitution of the original stream isperformed from the marked stream and the complementary information sentby the server.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system for protecting and displayingvideo streams in accordance with aspects of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

This invention permits the immediate identification withoutsupplementary means of a fraudulent copy while leaving the video streamin plain text, i.e. non-encrypted during an authorized display.

The invention is based on a client-server system which identifies aperson who desires to display a video stream and identify the readingdevice on which the display will be made. These identifications allowthe user to first recover on a personal or another reading device (sentphysically by CD-ROM or DVD, or downloaded to onto a computer or adecoder (set-top box)) a version of the video stream selected by theuser and adapted for use. Before or during this transmission the serverwill perform the appropriate adaptation of the stream for this client.For example, if the client reserves a film in advance, the visualelements are introduced by the server and a modified stream isdownloaded into the memory or onto the hard disk of the readingequipment of the client. If the client desires to view a filmimmediately, the server introduces the appropriate visual elementsgradually and transmits the modified stream to the user in real time.

The original stream to which personalized visual elements were addedwill be referred to as “modified stream” or “marked stream” in thefollowing description. At the moment of reading the modified stream thatis stored on the client apparatus, a new client-server connection isnecessary so that during the viewing of the modified stream, no visualelement for the identification of the client appears on the viewingscreen. On the other hand, if the modified stream has left the clientapparatus (by means of a copy or a downloading) while is being read ontoanother device that has no connection to the server, the visual elementsare displayed.

Generation of the protected video stream is adapted to the user andcarried out by the server. The latter analyses the original video streamto insert supplementary visual data that is superposed on the videostream or replaces the original content. The operation comprisesanalyzing the original video stream to designate the position (static ordynamic), the type and quantity of visual elements to be inserted aswell as the number of insertions and their appearance time on thescreen. In some cases, the visual elements never appear at the samelocation during the reading of the protected stream and its contentfurnishes a maximum amount of information concerning the user authorizedto see the film, such as name, address, telephone numbers or anyinformation that can identify or rapidly authenticate the person. Allthis information relative to the client will be referred to as“authenticating information” in the following description. The serveranalyzes the stream and changes a certain amount of information in theoriginal stream with visual elements of the same format or compatiblewith the original information. The original information is extractedfrom the stream, stored on the server and replaced by visual elementsrelative to the user. This operation is called “marking” and producesthe modified stream. The original information stored on the server iscalled “complementary information.” It is also possible to superpose thevisual elements on the original film.

The resulting modified stream is advantageously totally compatible withthe norm or the standard with which the original stream was generated.

Restitution of the original video stream takes place on equipmentcompatible with the invention and that will make a connection to theserver to recover the complementary information that it saves in realtime during the reading of the protected video stream and realize therestitution of the original stream. This operation is referred to as“removal of the marking,” “unmarking or “demarking.” Without theoperation of the recovery of the complementary information in real timefrom the server, only the stream marked with the visual elements isdisplayed and, therefore, all the information concerning the client isdisplayed storing the entire duration of viewing. Thus, a viewing of theoriginal stream is only possible on the suitable client equipment andany other form of display will display this authenticating information.Any person in possession of a non-authorized copy of the modified videostream also has all the personal authenticating information to find theclient at the origin of this copy.

However, the presence of visible visual elements might temptill-intentioned persons to make them disappear. Since the visualelements were inserted in the video stream by replacing original parts,the ill-intentioned person might insert visible traces to hide thevisual elements indicating the origin of the video stream. However, theinformation about positions of the visual elements in terms of aselection of modified frames, about the position in the frame selected,about the form and the size of the visual element inserted remainvisible and can be found again by an adequate processing. Since themarking was made by the server, all the information relative to theposition, form size of the mark and to the number of frames into whichit was inserted are known to the server, that identifies each user in aunique manner. The knowledge of this information is therefore sufficientto identify the ill-intentioned person who substituted the visualelements by visible traces.

The presence of visible visual objects might also tempt several users ofthe same distribution group, since they have access to the same film, tocompare the differently marked video streams that they have and to makea new one from them of which all or part of the visual objects wouldhave been removed by combining the non-modified parts or by replacing apicture containing a visual object by an original picture. To preventthis problem, the process in conformity with the invention provides thatthe form, color, size of the visual objects and the number of frames inwhich the visual object is inserted are obtained for each user from acombinatory method relative to a group of users and that the visualobject contains at least one visual part with an identical position forall the users of the group representing an identifier of this group ofusers.

The operations of marketing transmission, removal of the marking and adisplay can be made sequentially in real time during a singleclient-server connection.

In its most general meaning the invention relates to a process for thedistribution of video streams to a plurality of addressees, comprising amarking stage that adds at least one visual element to the video stream,which marking stage is applied to an original video stream common to allthe addressees and which is personalized for each addressee by theaddition of a visual elements specific to the addressee that allows arapid visual identification of the addressee, characterized in that theadded visual element replaces part of the original video stream that isstored in the complementary information on the multimedia server.

The visual element is advantageously generated in two stages. The firststage processes the marking data with any format in such a manner as togenerate marking objects describing the visual element to be displayedand the second stage adds the visual element into the video stream.

Reconstitution of the original stream is advantageously carried out onthe client equipment from the modified stream and from complementaryinformation sent by the server after authentication of the client and asa function of rights for being read and viewed without the display ofthe visual elements.

The marking stage can allow inclusion in the video stream of all typesof visual elements whose form, position and color are determined.

The marking stage can also allow inclusion in the video stream of alltypes of visual elements whose form, position and color are variable.

The process may comprise a control stage for authorizing one or severalprivate copies. The complementary information is advantageously sent inreal time.

The position, form, color, size of the visual object inserted and thenumber of frames into which the visual object is inserted may be uniqueand personalized for each user.

The position, form, size of the visual objects inserted and the numberof frames into which the visual object is inserted may be obtained froma combinatory method relative to a group of users and the visual objectcontains at least one part with an identical position for all the usersof the group representing an identifier of this group of users.

The invention also relates to a system for carrying out the process forthe distribution of video streams comprising a marking module comprisinga module for generating visual elements personalized for each user, amodule for inserting these visual elements into the original stream,thus producing a marked stream and complementary information stored inthe server, and a module for removing the marking in whichreconstitution of the original stream is performed from the markedstream and the complementary information sent by the server.

A particular example includes distributing films coded in conformitywith the MPEG-2 norm.

Referring to FIG. 1, when a client 3 connects to server 2 for ordering afilm A, the client selects a film A in a list supplied by server 2 andrelative to the content of film base 1. Once the selection and ordertransaction have been validated by server 2, the latter transforms filmA selected in base 1 into a film B that contains, in visual form andincluded in the video stream, the personal information 24 of the client.Personal information 24 of the client is constituted during membershipto the service and, especially during a connection J, and stored in adatabase of personal information 24 at the level of server 2.

A digital video stream of the MPEG-2 type is constituted of sequence ofpictures (or planes or frames) regrouped in groups of pictures (GOP's).A picture can be of the I type (Intra), P type (predicted) or B(bidirectional). The I pictures are the reference pictures. They areentirely coded and are therefore of an elevated size and do not containinformation about the movement. The I pictures are constituted of slicesthat themselves contain macroblocks and blocks.

The transformation is performed by module 21 and comprises thisnon-limiting example in changing a slice of an I picture and all the tenI pictures. The position of the slice is selected randomly in thepicture and the slice is replaced by a slice created in such a manner asto be inserted perfectly into binary stream A while respecting the sizeof the picture and the composition of the macroblocks. The slicesubstitution operation is rendered visually by the appearance of a blackband containing a text in white characters and giving the “last name,first name, address, telephone No.” of the client determined from thepersonal data D stored in the personal information base 24 of server 2.Complementary information C, that is, the content and the position inthe picture of each slice removed as well as the number of the pictureconcerned are stored in buffer 23 of server 2.

Module 22 permits modified stream B to be prepared for its transport toclient 3 by transport means 4. For example, film B is recorded on aphysical support such as, e.g., a disk and sent by mail to the client 3.Upon receiving the disk, user 3 can read it in disk reader 31 becausethe stream received is totally compatible with the MPEG-2 norm.

Either disk reader 31 of the client 3 has module 311 necessary for theclient-server connection 5, in which case during the reading of thedisk, the module 311 included in disk reader 31 will recover viatelecommunication network 5 the complementary information C contained inbuffer 23 to compose, prior to the display on viewing screen 6, a streamI identical to original stream A, that is, without the presence ofauthenticating information. Stream I is then decoded in a known mannerby module 312 of module 31, which module 312 is a standard video MPEG-2reader. At the output of module 312 the display is made on viewingscreen 6.

Or, if DVD reader 31 of client 3 is not equipped with the system 311 orif it does not succeed in identifying itself correctly via connection 5,in this case the white-on-black text band, appears on all 10 I pictureson screen 6 since stream I had not been transformed by module 311.

Every private copy of the disk is viewable without authenticatinginformation in the same manner as the original disk on any moduleauthorized to display it as a function of the client rights.

If copies are made by the client for a fraudulent use (e.g., for resaleor distribution), the authenticating information can be read by a personwho sees it on a reader and any person finding such an illicit copy cango back to the source of the copy with the aid of the personalinformation contained in these text bands.

Another example comprises the fact that the visual elements are nolonger authenticating information, but rather modified slices containingtext or parts of any picture. For example, only a first user authorizedto view the film can view it after the removal of marking performed bymodule 311. In the case in which the film is copied in a fraudulentmanner by a second user who is not authorized, the second user sees thefilm with the visual elements displayed and therefore the visual qualityof the film is degraded. Every user authorized to view the film can viewit on any device 31 by means of its parameters for identifying it to theserver necessary for authorizing the connection via network 5.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for distributing video streams,comprising: means for adding a visual element to an original videostream, wherein the visual element is personalized for a respectiveaddressee by addition of a visual element specific to the addressee,wherein the visual element comprises an item of information, whereinadding the visual element includes replacing a portion of the originalvideo stream with the visual element, resulting in a marked videostream; and means for transmitting the marked video stream to a givenaddressee; wherein the item of information is configured to appear inits entirety within a single frame of the marked video stream; whereinone or more frames containing the item of information are present in themarked video stream with the item of information being visible to anunaided eye, such that the item of information is enabled to bedisplayed one or more times in the marked video stream; and whereinposition, form, and size of the visual element added in said adding anda number of frames into which the visual element is added in said addingare obtained from a combinatory method relative to a group ofaddressees, and wherein the visual element includes a part with asubstantially identical position for all addressees of the group,representing an identifier of the group.
 2. The apparatus according toclaim 1, further comprising: means for transmitting complementaryinformation to the given addressee, including the portion of theoriginal video stream that is replaced in said adding, to enable thegiven addressee to replace the visual element with the portion of theoriginal video stream transmitted in the complementary information. 3.The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the complementaryinformation includes position information corresponding to the portionof the original video stream that is replaced in said adding.
 4. Theapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the marked video stream isconfigured such that display of the marked video stream withoutreconstruction using complementary information causes the item ofinformation to be visible to an unaided eye.
 5. An apparatus fordistributing video streams, comprising: a server, including: a videoprocessing module configured to add a visual element to an originalvideo stream, wherein the visual element is personalized for arespective addressee by addition of a visual element specific to theaddressee, wherein the visual element comprises an item of information,wherein adding the visual element includes replacing a portion of theoriginal video stream with the visual element, resulting in a markedvideo stream; wherein the item of information is configured to appear inits entirety within a single frame of the marked video stream; whereinone or more frames containing the item of information are present in themarked video stream with the item of information being visible to anunaided eye, such that the item of information is enabled to bedisplayed one or more times in the marked video stream; and whereinposition, form, and size of the visual element added in said adding anda number of frames into which the visual element is added in said addingare obtained from a combinatory method relative to a group ofaddressees, and wherein the visual element includes a part with asubstantially identical position for all addressees of the group,representing an identifier of the group.
 6. The apparatus according toclaim 5, wherein the server further comprises: a transport moduleconfigured to transmit the marked video stream to a given addressee; anda connection module configured to transmit complementary information tothe given addressee, including the portion of the original video streamthat is replaced in said adding, to enable the given addressee toreplace the visual element with the portion of the original video streamtransmitted in the complementary information.
 7. The apparatus accordingto claim 6, wherein the complementary information includes positioninformation corresponding to the portion of the original video streamthat is replaced in said adding.
 8. The apparatus according to claim 5,wherein the marked video stream is configured such that display of themarked video stream without reconstruction using complementaryinformation causes the item of information to be visible to an unaidedeye.
 9. A process for distributing video streams, the processcomprising: adding a visual element to an original video stream, whereinthe visual element is personalized for a respective addressee byaddition of a visual element specific to the addressee, wherein thevisual element comprises an item of information, wherein adding thevisual element includes replacing at least one portion of the originalvideo stream with the visual element to generate a marked video stream;wherein the item of information appears in its entirety in a singleframe of the marked video stream; wherein one or more frames containingthe item of information are present in the marked video stream with theitem of information being visible to an unaided eye, such that the itemof information is enabled to be displayed one or more times in themarked video stream; and wherein position, form, and size of the visualelement added in said adding and a number of frames into which thevisual element is added in said adding are obtained from a combinatorymethod relative to a group of addressees, and wherein the visual objectcontains at least one part with an identical position for all addresseesof the group, thereby representing an identifier of the group.
 10. Theprocess according to claim 9, further comprising: transmitting themarked video stream to a given addressee; and transmitting complementaryinformation to the given addressee, including the portion of theoriginal video stream that is replaced in said adding, to enable thegiven addressee to replace the visual element with the portion of theoriginal video stream transmitted in the complementary information. 11.The process according to claim 10, wherein the complementary informationincludes position information corresponding to the part of the originalvideo stream that is replaced during said adding.
 12. A computer programproduct embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium configuredto cause a processor to distribute video streams, the productcomprising: code for adding a visual element to an original videostream, wherein the visual element is personalized for a respectiveaddressee by addition of a visual element specific to the addressee,wherein the at least one visual element comprises an item ofinformation, wherein adding the visual element includes replacing atleast one portion of the original video stream with the visual elementto generate a marked video stream; wherein the item of informationappears in its entirety in a single frame of the marked video stream;wherein one or more frames containing the item of information arepresent in the marked video stream with the item of information beingvisible to an unaided eye, such that the item of information is enabledto be displayed one or more times in the marked video stream; andwherein position, form, and size of the visual element added in saidadding and a number of frames into which the visual element is added insaid adding are obtained from a combinatory method relative to a groupof addressees, and wherein the visual element contains at least one partwith an identical position for all addressees of the group, therebyrepresenting an identifier of the group.
 13. The computer programproduct according to claim 12, further comprising: code for transmittingthe marked video stream to a given addressee; and code for transmittingcomplementary information to the given addressee to enable the givenaddressee to replace the at least one visual element with the part ofthe original video stream in the complementary information.
 14. Thecomputer program product according to claim 13, wherein thecomplementary information includes position information corresponding tothe part of the original video stream that is replaced by the code foradding.
 15. A process for receiving and displaying video streams, theprocess comprising: receiving, by an addressee, a marked video streamincluding underlying video content marked with a visual elementpersonalized for the addressee that is different from a visual elementfor substantially any other addressee, the visual element comprising anitem of information; wherein the item of information is configured to bepresent in its entirety within a single frame of the marked videostream; wherein one or more frames containing the at least one item ofinformation are present in the marked video stream with the at least oneitem of information being visible to an unaided eye, such that the itemof information is enabled to be displayed one or more times in themarked video stream; wherein position, form, and size of the visualelement are obtained from a combinatory method relative to a group ofaddressees, and wherein the visual element contains at least one partwith an identical position for all addressees of the group, therebyrepresenting an identifier of the group.
 16. An apparatus for receivingand displaying video streams, comprising: means for receiving, by anaddressee, a marked video stream including underlying video contentmarked with a visual element personalized for the addressee that isdifferent from a visual element for substantially any other addressee,the visual element comprising an item of information; and means fordisplaying the video stream; wherein the item of information isconfigured to be present in its entirety within a single frame of themarked video stream; wherein one or more frames containing the at leastone item of information are present in the marked video stream with theat least one item of information being visible to an unaided eye, suchthat the item of information is enabled to be displayed one or moretimes in the marked video stream; wherein position, form, and size ofthe visual element are obtained from a combinatory method relative to agroup of addressees, and wherein the visual element contains at leastone part with an identical position for all addressees of the group,thereby representing an identifier of the group.
 17. A computer programproduct embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium configuredto cause a processor to receive and display video streams, the productcomprising: code for receiving, by an addressee, a marked video streamincluding underlying video content marked with a visual elementpersonalized for the addressee that is different from a visual elementfor substantially any other addressee, the visual element comprising anitem of information; wherein the item of information is configured to bepresent in its entirety within a single frame of the marked videostream; wherein one or more frames containing the at least one item ofinformation are present in the marked video stream with the at least oneitem of information being visible to an unaided eye, such that the itemof information is enabled to be displayed one or more times in themarked video stream; wherein position, form, and size of the visualelement are obtained from a combinatory method relative to a group ofaddressees, and wherein the visual element contains at least one partwith an identical position for all addressees of the group, therebyrepresenting an identifier of the group.
 18. An apparatus for receivingand displaying video streams, comprising: a receiver, including: a videoprocessing module configured to receive a marked video stream includingunderlying video content marked with a visual element personalized for aparticular addressee that is different from the visual element forsubstantially any other addressee, the visual element comprising an itemof information; and a display output configured to output the markedvideo stream to a display; wherein the item of information is configuredto appear in its entirety within a single frame of the marked videostream; wherein one or more frames containing the at least one item ofinformation are present in the marked video stream with the at least oneitem of information being visible to an unaided eye, such that the itemof information is enabled to be displayed one or more times in themarked video stream; and wherein position, form, and size of the visualelement are obtained from a combinatory method relative to a group ofaddressees, and wherein the visual element contains at least one partwith an identical position for all addressees of the group, therebyrepresenting an identifier of the group.
 19. A computer program productembodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium configured tocause a processor to distribute video streams, the product comprising:code for adding a visual element to an original video stream, whereinthe visual element is personalized for a respective addressee byaddition of a visual element specific to the respective addressee,wherein the visual element comprises an item of information, whereinadding the visual element includes replacing a portion of the originalvideo stream with the visual element, resulting in a marked videostream; code for providing the marked video stream to the respectiveaddressee via a first transport means; and code for providingcomplementary information, including the portion of the original videostream, to the respective addressee via a second transport means,different from the first transport means, in response to authenticationof the respective addressee; wherein the item of information isconfigured to appear in its entirety within a single frame of the markedvideo stream; wherein the marked video stream is configured such thatdisplay of the marked video stream without reconstruction using thecomplementary information causes the item of information to be visibleto an unaided eye; wherein one or more frames containing the item ofinformation are present in the marked video stream, such that the itemof information is enabled to be displayed one or more times in themarked video stream; and wherein the item of information includes aname, address, and/or telephone number of the respective addressee. 20.The computer program product of claim 19, wherein the product furthercomprises code for authenticating the respective addressee prior toproviding the complementary information.
 21. A method of videoprocessing and distribution to protect video content from unauthorizeduse, the method comprising: obtaining or accessing an original videostream containing multiple frames; replacing a portion of the originalvideo stream with one or more visual elements that are personalized fora respective addressee, to obtain a marked video stream wherein: (a) theone or more visual elements are visible to the unaided human eye whenthe marked video stream is displayed, (b) the one or more visualelements are specific to a particular addressee to which the markedvideo stream is to be sent, and (c) the one or more visual elements areinserted in the marked video stream so as to appear entirely within oneor more frames of the marked video stream and to appear one or moretimes during display of the marked video stream; creating complementaryinformation, including the portion of the original video stream thatwere replaced with the one or more visual elements; furnishing themarked video stream to the particular addressee; upon authenticationand/or other authorization, supplying the complementary information tothe particular addressee, separately from the marked video stream; andat equipment of the addressee, reconstituting the original video streamfrom the marked video stream and the complementary information anddisplaying the reconstituted original video stream.